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Having the pole balanced while raised also insures level - not sure having an external level is really needed - maybe more so for shorter lengths. Wonder what Wim&#039;s thought on this would be.

Hello Bill,

I think the need for an external level is a matter of how much you want to be in control of the NPP of the lens.

When you balance the camera+lens on top of the pole in the gravity center then, if you have a good feeling for small variations in forces and if there is no wind, then each shot will be in approx. the same off set NPP position of the lens (*).
(*) Because the gravity point of the camera+lens is not in the NPP of the lens the pole will lean a bit forwards when the gear is balanced, hence the NPP of the lens is always off set.

To get the best possible control I prefer to have an external level attached to the pole, then if there is some wind, or if I don&#039;t want to fully depend on my feeling for small forces, keeping the lens in the proper position (**) is much more faster and accurate.
(**) For a monopod it is better not to shift the lens forwards out of NPP to avoid stitching errors caused by parallax but on a high pole, when objects or surfaces are not close by, it is possible to shift the lens 1-2 cm forwards to get a very small footprint in nadir, hence often there is no need to shoot a nadir patch and some cloning in Photoshop can fill the footprint.

As a side effect of the forward shift of the lens the gear is a little better balanced but still the pole will lean forward, hence the out of NPP position of the lens is more then neccesary to avoid the need of a nadir patch. This is another reason why I always use a external level attached to the pole.

A gyro is a double-edged sword. It helps to stabilize the pole. However, it also becomes more difficult to restore to vertical position if the pole is tilted. The weight of gyro and battery can also add to the burden on the pole. a 0.5kg extra loading is significant for a 6 m pole.

Well, I can experiment your idea when I have more time.

nick

Fanotec
We listen. We try harder.

Comment

A gyro is a double-edged sword. It helps to stabilize the pole. However, it also becomes more difficult to restore to vertical position if the pole is tilted. The weight of gyro and battery can also add to the burden on the pole. a 0.5kg extra loading is significant for a 6 m pole.

Well, I can experiment your idea when I have more time.

nick

Probably best not to turn it on till in position. As you say it resists change of position in weird ways.

Comment

zenith is easy. just clone the sky or use the new content aware fill in PS CS5. You can use a neg tilt and shift the lens forward of the NPP by 10-20mm. This will make the nadir very small and easy to patch.
For perfectionists, they can use R1 and tilt the camera up to take the zenith shot.

nick

Fanotec
We listen. We try harder.

Comment

I know your are trying very hard to serve the customers wishes and I know you are the "one" who likes to fill gaps. Discussions on other forums about how to take a pano inside cars. "Use a tripod outside, go through the window with a horizontal arm, and off you go"

An additional use of the small pole to your new "champion" like adaptor might be a "horizontal converter", 90° vertical to 90° horizontal, adapting to your "champignon" and using the pole to get inside the car through the window. At the end of the pole an extra plate being able to turn to zenith nadir and horizontal. I know you are tricky Nick and a question like this will ask your possibilities to proof you are trying harder.

Thx for setting up a new factory to serve your clients at its best.

Regards,

Heinz

Comment

I know your are trying very hard to serve the customers wishes and I know you are the "one" who likes to fill gaps. Discussions on other forums about how to take a pano inside cars. "Use a tripod outside, go through the window with a horizontal arm, and off you go"

An additional use of the small pole to your new "champion" like adaptor might be a "horizontal converter", 90° vertical to 90° horizontal, adapting to your "champignon" and using the pole to get inside the car through the window. At the end of the pole an extra plate being able to turn to zenith nadir and horizontal. I know you are tricky Nick and a question like this will ask your possibilities to proof you are trying harder.

Comment

Still work in progress, keep tuned as it'll be announced here first when they'll become avalaible

Thanks Vincèn, but can you offer any predictions as to when that will be, please? Are we talking weeks or months? I need a pole, but don't want to purchase a competing, and perhaps inferior, product if the Nodal Ninja offerings are imminent.